Rochester Man Sentenced for Extortion

ROCHESTER, NY—U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that John L. Lyons, of Caledonia, New York, who was convicted of extortion through interstate commerce, was sentenced to eight months in prison by U.S. District Court Judge Frank P. Geraci, Jr.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard A. Resnick, who handled the case, stated that between November 30, 2012 and December 20, 2012, the defendant posed as a private investigator in text messages to the president of a local company in Rochester who was involved in a contentious battle over control and operations of the family owned business. Specifically, Lyons, using his text messaging, stated to the victim that he had obtained incriminating information about the victim. The defendant further stated that if the victim paid Lyons $25,000 in cash, he would give the incriminating information to the victim, rather than turn over the information to the entities that hired Lyons to gather the information about victim.

The sentencing is the culmination of an investigation on the part of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Brian P. Boetig.